Marae

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Finally we got back to civilization. And it stopped raining for 2 whole hours! I can use a dryer to warm up all my soaking wet clothes. Yay. We made a shit-ton of pasta and left the next day for the Marae.

Day 1 at the Marae was a bit brutal since we had lecture for over 7 hours. We were traditionally greeted by the Maori people just like when I was 15 in the People to People Program. Welcomes consisted of pressing each other’s noses and heads together to symbolize the sharing of breath and thoughts. After lunch we learned a Maori song and witnessed the making of bush medicine. Dinner was delicious. All 31 of us and our professors slept on the floor in sleeping bags in a giant Maori hut. The professor’s sons Owen and Griffin were hyper so they danced to the Spice Girls.

Day 2 was way more fun! We lucked out with the weather. After our bush walk we went white water rafting which was a completely different experience than when we went in the Canyon with Kylie and Julia. The pontoons were much smaller, only fitting 6 people and a guide per raft. We all had oars and had to paddle according to the instructions given by our leader who rode in the back and steered through the rapids and rocks. We went through class 4 rapids (class 5 is the highest) and Maria and Bird almost fell out! It was awesome. We all slept in the Marae again. Oh and the guys learned the Haka!

Day 3 was chill. We learned about sustainability in the Roto Iti lake by the Marae. We then went paddle-boating which was the coolest. I stood on a giant surf board and paddled around through narrow channels with and against the current to get to a freshwater spring at the end of the journey. The weather was beautiful and warm. After we had a mini hike to a waterfall and learned about herbs and their medicinal properties. Mid-afternoon we rode the bus back to the YHA hostel in Rotorua. It was the night before Leah’s 21^st birthday so she was determined to be hammered (as she should be) so that was accomplished by midnight. All 31 of us (and our professor’s husband) were drunk in the upstairs lounge which ended up being an epic fail since everyone hates everyone and is sick of living with each other. Glasses were thrown, broken glass had fallen, and Leah had bled. She survived puking 11 times the next day - 6 times secretly on the bus without the professors seeing. But they knew.

(Wish I had a waterproof camera for the rafting pics).

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Photos

Marae
Sleeping arrangement.

Dancing Owen and Griffin
To the Spice Girls.

Bird and me
Attempting an eye brow raise at dinner.

The Haka
Curtis's fav - of course.

vball!
Outside!